Study of mental health and learning engagement during COVID-19 pandemic based on an electroencephalogram headset

TL;DR

This study uses EEG headsets to analyze mental health and engagement in students during COVID-19, revealing optimal learning methods and potential for enhancing online education and well-being.

Contribution

It introduces a novel EEG-based web application to monitor and improve student engagement and mental health during remote learning.

Findings

Highest attention with text and illustrations

Videos increased initial engagement but less long-term focus

Students' confidence improved with EEG feedback

Abstract

The COVID pandemic and the measures which were taken had effect over the mental health of persons. The current paper proposes a concept that supports the performance of students by analyzing three ways of distance learning, namely text, text and illustrations, including charts, video. An electroencephalogram headset allows the detection of brainwaves and the developed web application enhances the process of distance learning. The electrodes of the headset are placed at contact with the user head and monitor the activity of the left and right frontal regions, along with the temporal lobe. Mood, focus, stress, relaxation, engagement, excitement and interest are triggered as numerical values by using the headset. The users provide information about their daily activities, including learning and evaluation processes. According to the study, users had the highest long term attention while using text and illustrations, followed by watching videos. This is caused by the fact that the text contained the code for the programs which were presented in the video. Also, the users feel comfortable while using the application and they started to pay more attention to the connection between stress, health, education and well being. The results triggered by the headset had higher values while students studied for the first time using videos. When they wanted to remember the information, the text and illustrations way of learning was the best option. Based on the study outcomes, the instructional design can be enhanced. Moreover, the results improved as the students became more equilibrated and confident in themselves. Teachers, professors and parents are able to collaborate and enhance training. While studying online under lockdown, students have found the proposed solution to be good because their inner state influences their productivity while solving problems.